Ontario targets sex trafficking with London tech

The fight against human trafficking in Ontario is going high tech with the help of a London software company.

Media Sonar will work with three London agencies to help women and girls being trafficked and sexually exploited across the province.

The London Abused Women’s Centre is the lead agency of the Phoenix Anti-Trafficking Project. The provincial government recently announced the project will receive $829,000 in funding and provide long-term support to girls and women forced into the sex trade.

“We think this will really help,” said Megan Walker, executive director of the London Abused Women’s Centre.

“As the issue of trafficking has become prominent, we started to receive calls from mothers and fathers looking for their children,” she said.

“It has been difficult to find resources” to help them, she said.

Families and social agencies have tried to track the whereabouts of the girls and women, but it is difficult because the population is transient.

Media Sonar has a track record of working with law enforcement agencies. Working out of an office on Horton Street, the company can track a person’s Internet activity, especially on social media, to pinpoint their location.

Media Sonar contacted the London Abused Women’s Centre when the issue of trafficking became prominent recently and offered assistance.

“We are proud to be part of the fight against human trafficking across Ontario,” David Strucke, chief executive of Media Sonar, said in a release. “Our main focus . . . has always been to build technology that can be used to make the world around us safer. Participating in important projects, such as this, is completely aligned with what motivates us every day.”

Strucke could not be reached for comment.

The software also can track the “pimp” using the trafficked person and “stables,” or groups of women in the sex trade, Walker said.

Once a person is identified, agencies can contact the person and offer help and support, she said.

“This will be life-changing for families and girls. Girls who are trafficked never come out of it the same, but we may be able to offer them a new life.”

Walker said she believes 1,000 people can be helped.

The Salvation Army and Youth Opportunities Unlimited (YOU), which offers training and support to youth, are the two other London agencies involved in the Phoenix anti-trafficking project.

“For us, this is totally new,” Julia Parker, executive director of the Salvation Army correctional and justice services, said of using technology to fight trafficking. “We have been on the street, in motels, trying to find girls downtown and we don’t know where they are. This will be great to keep track of them when they disappear.”

Salvation Army is hiring a peer support worker to work directly with girls and women to get them off the street.

“We have all come together to help combat this. We are very excited by this and we will have a better understanding of what these girls and women are up against,” Parker said. “It is hard to imagine the trauma they are going through.”

YOU will have a staffer speak with youth about the dangers of trafficking, executive director Steve Cordes said.

“There is no sign of luring in our facility, but they are vulnerable and can be preyed upon,” he said. “The more information they have, the better.”

A meeting will be held this week between Media Sonar and the groups to kick off the initiative.

“Unfortunately London is a hotbed for luring . . . and we are doing what we can to help stop it,” Cordes said.

London software company Media Sonar is working with three city agencies to combat human trafficking in Ontario.

Media Sonar made news in January when its data-tracking software was banned from Twitter after the American Civil Liberties Union said it was being used in the U.S. to track Black Lives Matter protesters.

ACLU found police were using the software to monitor such hashtags as #BlackLivesMatter, #DontShoot, #ImUnarmed and #PoliceBrutality.

ACLU also revealed that when Media Sonar was trying to sell its software in 2015 to police in Fresno, Calif., the company said it could be used to monitor protesters.

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